After the fall of Napoleon, the reorganization of European affairs began, under the leadership of the Austrian Prince Metternich. In 1806, the Austrian empire renounced the Imperial Crown, thus triggering the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine (1806-1813), followed in 1815 by the Germanic Confederation. In 1819 Prince Metternich called a conference, where Prussia, Austria and eight other states agreed on the Karlsbad Decrees. These decrees declared censorship, supervision of universities and the persecution of persona who were accused of spreading revolutionary and nationalist ideas.

In 1834 a customs union between Prussia and most other German states was established. As industrialization developed, the need for a unified German state with a uniform currency, legal system, and government became more and more obvious.

In 1848 the March Revolution led to the German National Assembly in Frankfurt am Main. Because of the obvious discontent with the political and social order, the goal was to develop a national German constitution. However, King Frederick William IV of Prussia refused the imperial crown and the German Confederation was re-established by 1850. Many people once again lost interest in politics.

After the death of Frederick William IV in 1861, his brother William succeeded him. In 1871 reconstruction of the German Empire began under the Versailles Treaty, moving the capital from Vienna to Berlin. William I of Prussia nominated Otto von Bismarck as first chancellor and thus took an important step towards the unification of Germany.